Germany strikes pact with U.S. to fight tax evasion

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany approved new legislation on Friday that will assist the United States in cracking down on tax evasion by its citizens, joining a series of countries to strike such deals with Washington.

The new law enacts the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which went into force in the United States in 2010, and requires foreign financial institutions to tell the U.S. Internal Revenue Service about Americans' offshore accounts worth more than $50,000 (33,580 pounds).